16 years after the launch of bitcoin – and with it, the modern blockchain – it is safe to say that the future of money is here. Claimed ownership of crypto is more common than many think; stablecoin transfer volumes have reached unprecedented levels; more than a third of small and medium businesses use crypto in their businesses; and 6 in 10 F500 executives say their companies are working on blockchain initiatives.
MORE OF AMERICA’S TOP COMPANIES ARE ONCHAIN THAN EVER BEFORE
Onchain is big business. Among F500 executives:
- 6 in 10 say their companies are working on onchain initiatives
- Nearly 1 in 2 (47%) say their company’s investment in onchain technology has increased
- The number of onchain projects per company has increased by 67% year on year, from 5.8 to 9.7
There were 17 unique onchain initiatives announced by F100 companies in Q1 2025, which ties the second-highest quarterly activity recorded, and over the last 3 quarters (Q3 ‘24 – Q1 ‘25) there were 46 unique onchain initiatives. While financial service and technology companies remain the industries that account for the most onchain initiatives, the three most recent quarters (Q3 2024 to Q1 2025) have shown increasing diversification into auto and transportation, retail, food and beverage, and healthcare companies.
IT’S NOT JUST BIG BUSINESS – SMALL BUSINESSES ARE MOVING ONCHAIN AT AN EVEN FASTER RATE
The future of money is nowhere more visible than among small and medium businesses, the backbone of the U.S. economy. Onchain technology, especially for payments, holds great appeal to a group who see transaction fees and processing times as their top financial related pain points.
Year over year, the number of SMBs using crypto, the number of SMBs using stablecoins and the number of SMBs who have paid or accepted crypto has doubled. In 2025, more than half (57%) of SMBs agree that adopting crypto will save their business money, up from 42% a year ago.
THE RISE AND RISE OF TOKENIZED ASSETS
Organic stablecoin transfer volume has reached unprecedented levels with the two highest monthly volume transfers in history happening in the last year. December 2024 set a monthly volume record of $719.0 billion, followed by April 2025’s $717.1 billion.
Over the same time period, stablecoin ownership has shown consistent growth accounting for over 160 million holders in May 2025. That is more than the population of the 10 largest cities in the world combined, and more than the 142 million combined users of the U.S. ‘big four’ mobile bank apps (JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank).
This is just the beginning of the rise and rise of stablecoins as they begin to move more and more mainstream with (among many others) Circle launching a cross-border remittance network, Ramp launching stablecoin cards, Stripe & Bridge launching ‘stablecoin financial accounts’ across 101 diffcountries, SWIFT enabling native stablecoin functionality, Meta re-exploring stablecoins after they sold offDiem, and Mesh stablecoin settlement enabled via Apple Pay.
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS ARE INCREASING THEIR EXPOSURE TO CRYPTO
2024 saw a banner year for crypto driven by interest in new ETF offerings. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs rank among the most successful ETFs ever launched.
- The top 10 Bitcoin ETFs attracted $50 billion in cumulative inflows, 2x the cumulative inflows as the Top 10 all-time ETFs in their first year.
- While the record-breaking ETF volumes are driven by retail (retail holds 79% of Bitcoin ETFs), institutions have adopted Bitcoin ETFs at a record pace. In their first 3 quarters after launch, Bitcoin ETFs beat other top performing ETFs in both institutional AUM & holders.
- Ethereum ETFs have attracted $3.5 billion net inflows and also beat other top-performing ETFs in both institutional AUM & holders in the first quarter after launch.
GREATER REGULATORY CERTAINTY IS NEEDED TO UNLOCK CRYPTO’S FULL POTENTIAL
So far, this report has shown how the future of money is not only here, but its future is brighter than ever. However, to unlock this potential it is critical to increase regulatory certainty around crypto, web3 and blockchain technologies in the US.
- More than half (54%) of F500 executives say concerns about regulation is a barrier to adopting onchain technology
- 9 in 10 F500 executives agree that clear regulation in the US on crypto, blockchain, or web3 / onchain is needed to support innovation
- Nearly ¾ (72%) of SMBs say they would be more likely to consider using crypto in their business if there was clear market structure for crypto (i.e., rules and regulations for business use)
- 3 in 5 (57%) investors cited greater regulatory clarity as the next catalyst for growth of the digital- asset industry
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